Smoking - The day i said "no more"

[Grimfrost]

Hello mmo this is my story on smoking, how much of you smoke or have smoked and are you planning on stopping or stopping?
I don't expect people on the internet to learn anything from my story or so but i hope it atleast inspires some of you to never pick up smoking or maybe even help you stop.

I was diagnosed with organ alteration about 2 years ago, it means almost every organ in my torso is deformed, misplaced or both. In the Klina hospital in brasschaat they had never seen anything like it and in the UZ leuven (THE hospital in flanders) they had only seen it once or twice. What are the concequences of this deformity ? I have only one working lung which barely works and alot of heart issues. Now when my boyfriend of 8 months broke up one year ago i was smashed, he had ripped my heart out and taken a poop on it. His mother had abandoned nest issues and she never liked that her son had me and spend time with me, she wanted her little boy for herself while this guy was 20 at home he was threated like a 12 year old child which made it hard for us to be together and he broke up because of his mom pressuring him into it. Now he knew about my organ alteration and had seen some of the struggles i had been dealing with. After the break-up he kept saying he loved me and that he'd come back, every day he texted me this. Now I promised to wait for him but after 4 months i couldn't deal with it anymore, i wanted him to care that i was falling appart because of him. For example he'd say he'd come back before his birthday but then at his birthday he said he needed more time (i even bought him a 300 eur bobba fett figurene because he was in love with bobba fett). I was sitting with my friend who smoke too and i asked for one, i didn't even know why. I got a cigarette and smoked it in hopes he'd see i was killing myself as cigarettes are even more dangerous for me since both my lungs and hearts have issues. A few cigarettes each weekend started to turn into a few every 3 days, every 2 days and then every day. At first i didn't have any problems but after a while i'd get one discolored finger and of course my teeth weren't as white anymore (no matter how much i brushed them). I also have these coughs when i woke up that lasted up to 30 minutes of non-stop coughing. After waiting half a year for him he said again he needed more time and i basically stopped hoping from there but i got addicting to smoking. Most friends of mine remember me when i was younger : I hated smoking, i hated the smell and i didnt understand why people would pay to get diseases but now i had become a smoker myself. Now my parents found out i was smoking and were REALLY disapointed in me and kept whining about the smell, the fact i was smoking and about how much money i'd spend on it. September 2012 i had to go to the hospital due to my heart rythm failing and i had to stay there for 3 months but i kept smoking there. Now before my hospitalisation i got together with a new boyfriend who stopped smoking (he didnt smoke much but he did it every once in a while). At this point i started thinking 'bout everything : the reason i started is gone, it's bad for me, it DOES smell, it costs so much money, it's cold when you have to go smoke outside. It didn't seem worth it anymore, now i tried to stop before this but after a day or 2 without smoking I NEEDED one, i'd be really nervous and such and gave in. The tabakstop lijn (it's a number you can call to stop smoking) didn't help either but my mom who works in a hospital adviced these pills that would help me stop smoking. These pills are pretty expencive, at first i could smoke one or two cigarettes with the pills but after a while i couldn't, i'd become ill.

Now i've stopped smoking but it cost me alot of things : alot of money, 3 months of my life and abit of dignity as i always said to myself i'd never smoke. As for the ex he never came back and i am still with the 'new' boyfriend today and we're happier than ever.

This was my story MMO feel free to post yours, i hope this may inspire some people and helps them stop smoking. I don't hate or dislike smokers, i just am happy i got rid of it. Sorry if there are alot of mistakes: English is not my native language and i have Dyslexia but i tried to do my best.

[Reg]

Congrats on stopping. I've seen how hard it is for some people to stop. I smoked when I was younger, started at 14 and wish I never did. I quit one day cold turkey and haven't looked back since.

[Grimfrost]

Congrats on stopping. I've seen how hard it is for some people to stop. I smoked when I was younger, started at 14 and wish I never did. I quit one day cold turkey and haven't looked back since.

I tried to do that but i couldn't. You must be one hell of a guy if you were able to do that!

[Deleted]

I'm from Belgium and smoke as well. I've been smoking since I was 15 because the temptation combined with the problems I had at home were too hard. We're 6 years later now and I've been smoking a pack a day for 2 years or something. I know it's unhealthy and I see it as a slow suicide which I'm ok with. My mother died when I was 9 due to lung cancer and I know I'll end up the same way but I just can't be bothered. I don't want to become old or even have kids. Although I might regret this later I don't want to think about it as I live right now and I try to live without regrets.

Smoking gives me a good feeling, not just the nicotine but it gives me a chance every break to just go outside by myself and clear my mind for a second. It might be weird to say but smoking makes me feel alive.

It's good for you that you stopped though.

[Reg]

I tried to do that but i couldn't. You must be one hell of a guy if you were able to do that!

I really didn't have a choice at the time lol Very bad economic hardships and was living on the streets. The first couple weeks were brutal, and I don't think it was even from the lack of nicotine. It was just the habit of it, missing the feel of it.

[Krekko]

Smoking gives me a good feeling, not just the nicotine but it gives me a chance every break to just go outside by myself and clear my mind for a second. It might be weird to say but smoking makes me feel alive.

I won't tell you how to live but I will tell you this.

Lung cancer is not a slow, painless death.

And there are many many many other, cheaper, healthier more cost and life effective ways to achieve this feeling.

Do what you want, kill yourself all you like, it's not my life to choose or say what I believe, just realize there are plenty of alternatives. Don't narrow yourself down to just smoking.

[Blueobelisk]

The number of people from New York in this thread is astounding. I didn't even know there was a moderator from NY.

Uhhmmm. I never planned to smoke anyway lol. It's too expensive of an addiction. My uncle and aunt smokes and oh gosh at the amount of money they pay for cigarettes.

[Reg]

The number of people from New York in this thread is astounding. I didn't even know there was a moderator from NY.

And to add New York to the topic of smoking, packs of cigs here in the city are like $13+ now, so another reason people should quit.

[Deleted]

Smoking is a choice some ppl make.
Its disgusting, expensive, unhealthy for u and the ppl around u and its a fire hazard.
To my mind its a no brainer, DONT SMOKE FFS.
OP imo u made the right decision and quit

[Seirith]

And to add New York to the topic of smoking, packs of cigs here in the city are like $13+ now, so another reason people should quit.

Holy! $13 a pack! I don't understand how people can afford to smoke! yikes!

[Reg]

Holy! $13 a pack! I don't understand how people can afford to smoke! yikes!

Even out in the suburbs they went up to around $10 a pack, and with NYC prices being higher on pretty much everything, it has gotten very expensive.

[Deleted]

Congrats on stopping. I've seen how hard it is for some people to stop. I smoked when I was younger, started at 14 and wish I never did. I quit one day cold turkey and haven't looked back since.

Same with me, just quit cold turkey, best way in my opinion. Get that nicotine out of your system, which I believe takes 3 days then after that it is all mental.

[Lollis]

Smoking is a choice some ppl make.
Its disgusting, expensive, unhealthy for u and the ppl around u and its a fire hazard.
To my mind its a no brainer, DONT SMOKE FFS.
OP imo u made the right decision and quit

A couple of months ago me and my dad went to a building materials place to buy some light fittings and we came across a woman asking people for a cigarette. There were about ten of us in this little building, none of whom smoked, and she kept asking everyone and saying 'someone must have one' etc. There is nothing more pathetic than someone jonesing for a cigarette.

[Deleted]

No, I mean it!

[Nasriel]

Smoking is a choice some ppl make.
Its disgusting, expensive, unhealthy for u and the ppl around u and its a fire hazard.
To my mind its a no brainer, DONT SMOKE FFS.
OP imo u made the right decision and quit

I agree with you. Back in the olden days I can understand people taking up smoking. They didn't know about the health risks back then... but these days it still shocks me to see teenagers and the like smoking. Everyone knows that smoking causes Lung Cancer, it stinks, it makes your fingers and teeth go yellow, you don't even look cool when you're smoking... I just can't fathom why in this day and age anyone would choose to smoke :/

But good on the OP to make the decision to quit. It's not gonna be easy but if you stick with it, it'll be worth it in the long run

[imabanana]

Congrats on stopping. I've seen how hard it is for some people to stop. I smoked when I was younger, started at 14 and wish I never did. I quit one day cold turkey and haven't looked back since.

Exactly the same for me, but without the "brutal weeks" you talk about in following posts. Didn't understand for years after this why people said they "couldn't stop", I thought all they had to do was well... stop, as I did. Don't think I've ever been addicted to something, sure there are things I did all day/week/month long for some time, but nothing I couldn't stop from one day to another.

[Reg]

Exactly the same for me, but without the "brutal weeks" you talk about in following posts. Didn't understand for years after this why people said they "couldn't stop", I thought all they had to do was well... stop, as I did. Don't think I've ever been addicted to something, sure there are things I did all day/week/month long for some time, but nothing I couldn't stop from one day to another.

It was just the habit. I know one guy who would always smoke on his drive to work, he would light the cig at the exact same spot on his drive on both directions because he knew that when he arrived at his destination, he would just be finishing his smoke. So when he stopped smoking and got to that place where he would normally light up, he would freak out a bit.

[Deleted]

Good for you i hope you can keep it up.
But please... dont get the illness all those ex smokers get... the QQ on people who stil smoke.
I'm not saying you ar doing it. but just giving the warning.



The reason i smoke is mainly to relax. life is stressfull.
and yeah maybe its bad for your health. but you know stress is to?
Body parts not functioning properly. brains can go disfunctioning from stress. people suicide etc..
so if i put the numbers next to eachother.. people who die cause of stress and those wo die cause of smoking... i rather smoke

[Urti]

My wife and I both tried easily half a dozen times to stop smoking, and failed each one. One day I woke up, had my breakfast followed by a cig, and nearly gagged. I wasn't able to finish a whole cig that entire day. Same with the wife. Later that week we threw out (gave away) half a carton of smokes and haven't smoked since, been about 6 years now, with hardly a single craving. Weirdest thing I've ever experienced, I even went to the doc to get everything checked out. Wish I could bottle whatever it was that changed my habit, I'd be a billionaire.

[Reg]

My wife and I both tried easily half a dozen times to stop smoking, and failed each one. One day I woke up, had my breakfast followed by a cig, and nearly gagged. I wasn't able to finish a whole cig that entire day. Same with the wife. Later that week we threw out (gave away) half a carton of smokes and haven't smoked since, been about 6 years now, with hardly a single craving. Weirdest thing I've ever experienced, I even went to the doc to get everything checked out. Wish I could bottle whatever it was that changed my habit, I'd be a billionaire.

Were you on any medications? There are certain meds out there, I know of a certain anti-depressant, that have a side effect of cigs making you physically ill.